Tigers advance in Ezidore Tourney

Perry PitreSports Correspondent

Saturday

Dec 20, 2008 at 8:00 AM

ST. JAMES -- Thibodaux used a big first quarter to take an early lead, but East Acension made it interesting in the fourth quarter of Friday’s game at the Lionel Ezidore Tournament held at St. James High.

But thanks to clutch free-throw shooting, Thibodaux held on and won, 61-51.With the win, Thibodaux (13-1 overall) advanced to today’s tournament championship game against Lutcher.

Thibodaux led 16-9 after the first quarter and 35-25 at the end of the first half. Thibodaux’s Carlos Coler, who led all scorers with 24 points, tore up the Spartans on the inside, muscling aside defenders in the paint.

Leading by 16 at the end of the third quarter, Thibodaux watched as East Ascension began the fourth with a 6-0 run to close the lead to 10, helped along by the Tigers struggles from the free-throw line. The “Hack a Tiger” effort was nearly successful as Kenny Verando’s (eight points) lay-up cut Thibodaux’s lead to seven with just over a minute left.

Then it was the Warriors turn to miss at the foul line when Quinn Coco (11 points) missed both attempts after being fouled. Thibodaux’s Brandon Thompson (11 points) hit on the next possession to push the lead back up to nine when the Tigers started hitting foul shots, converting on three of their last four to ice the game.

“(East Ascension) put some pressure on us, and we turned the ball over,” Thibodaux coach Tony Clark said. “We made some bad decisions at the end. Then we missed some key free throws. But we were lucky enough to put it together at the end.”

East Ascension coach Kenny Almond said the change in the game’s tempo was due to officiating.

“I think the officials started officiating correctly in the fourth quarter,” Almond said. “They’ve got an official out there, and after 13 games, he doesn’t even know the rules. But Thibodaux played great. That was the difference. They played better than we did.”

“There’s nothing you can do to control that,” Clark said. “I’m not going to get into that.”

Coco and Keith Fleming led East Ascension (12-2) with 11 points each. Shavon Coleman had 11 for the Tigers.

LUTCHER 83, ST. JAMES 43Lutcher earned the second spot in the tournament’s championship game, using a 49-point second half to take out host St. James.

Lutcher led 18-12 after one quarter and 34-21 at halftime.

Lutcher was led by Bruce Bejoile and Terreck Jackson with 14 points each. Jarvis Landry and Chris Richardson each had 12, while Fred Thomas had 10.

Terence Green had nine for the Wildcats, while Marcus Dumas had eight.

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